


Riot in the Corridor

by suluismyspirit



Category: Star Trek
Genre: Angst, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Racism, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-23 08:33:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8321044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suluismyspirit/pseuds/suluismyspirit
Summary: Many small problems have been occurring on the ship, from computer malfunctions to missing items. Someone aboard the enterprise has been actively undermining Kirk's authority. An incident occurs leaving both Bones and Sulu injured.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of an excerpt from a underlying plot to a group RP that I was involved in a while ago. So, it may or may not make sense.
> 
> Key points you need to know:  
> Bones gave Sulu a stuffed bear, which had been stolen after a particular incident involving alcohol and Hikaru attempting to outdrink Chekov. The loss of the bear was stressful, as Sulu had come to view it as a symbol of his and McCoy's friendship, and resulted in a great deal of teasing from many of the crew.  
> Chekov had a pet duck that was stolen.  
> The duck thieves hung cooked ducks, with the work 'Kirk' painted on them, around the ship.
> 
> Sulu was in his quarters and heard a commotion in the hall, so he went to investigate. McCoy see's the crowd on the way to respond to a patient and stops to investigate as well. Sulu suggests they break up the rather large crowd of crewmen gathered around.

McCoy looked around at the gathered crowd, all of them whispering and gawking at the duck hanging from the wall. “Good idea.” He said, in response to Sulu’s suggestion of crowd control.

Sulu nodded, moving forward and speaking authoritatively. “Alright everyone, that’s enough.” He declared, attempting to wave them off back to their duties.

Someone in the crowd let out a whistle, followed seconds later by a lewd cat call. Sulu glared into the crowd, searching for the ones responsible. “You should all return to your posts.” He barked, tone strained, body tense. Perhaps moving into the center of the crowd had not been the wisest course of action.

McCoy eyed Sulu, wondering what was going on.

“Hey, Sulu, where’s the bear?” 

“How is he, doc? Is he a good nurse?” 

“Oh, tedddyyyyyy!”

The insults came fast and mocking, each one causing the pilot to tense further. “That’s enough.” He snapped, looking for the main speaker, nearly getting knocked over as someone shoved him.

Bones caught on and paused, frowning for a second before moving forward, muttering. “What the hell are they talkin’ bout Mister Sulu?” 

Sulu didn’t have the opportunity to answer as other crew member started shouting.

“Don’t say that to our commanding officers!”

“Oh yeah? You’re one to talk. You totally slept with Jane last night! Think you were gonna keep that from me?!”

“It’s not my fault you suck. Wait, nevermind…” The smirk in that last comment started a fight, the two redshirts laying into one another viciously.

McCoy cursed, striding forward into the middle in an attempt to separate the two.

Sulu moved forward as well, grabbing one of them and pulling him back. “Hey! HEY! Enough.” No one was paying him any attention, tempers flaring all around.

“I’m so sick of that fucking Asian.” A voice to the side snarled. “Joe, you seen him walking around with that look on his face?”

The comment was enough to break Sulu’s concentration, the one he was holding breaking free and turning on him. “What do you think you’re doing, punk?!” He snapped, pushing Sulu roughly.

McCoy’s eyes widened. “What the HELL do you think you’re doing?” The crewman didn’t even acknowledge him.

McCoy turned to see one of his nurses trying to hold a female back. “Alert security immediately, Nurse Lia, before this gets even more outta hand!” Lia nodded and ran off.

Sulu stumbled back from the shove, opening his mouth to tell the crewman off. He didn’t get the chance as the man threw a punch, Sulu twisting away from the brunt of it before instinctively fighting back. Chaos breaks out, everyone seemingly fighting with someone. Sulu and his opponent were half tackled, the pilot falling sideways and crashing into McCoy and two others. Hikaru stumbled to his feet, feeling arms wrap around his neck, bending him half sideways as they pull. There was another body in front of him, trying to grab him as well and he struggled viciously, determined to get free.

A blueshirted crew man made a lunge for the doctor, taking this chance to repay the gruff man for the many lectures he’d had to sit through. McCoy pushed him away, snapping irritably. “Watch it, boy.”

The man growled, teeth grinding in anger. “Don’t call me boy!” He took a swing at McCoy, completely losing his temper.

Another redshirt waded through the fighting, seeing an opportunity with Sulu held by the two crewmen. He took a swig at the Asians gut, cursing the man as he did so. He grinned cruelly at the pained grunt he received in response, going for another blow. Another man barreled over, adding his weight to the two already grappling with Sulu. “Hold him down!” He yelled, trying to push Sulu to the floor, kicking at the others scrabbling nearby. 

Sulu fell to his knees at the added pressure, giving it all he had to break free. The thought of being pinned under them was enough to give him a boost of adrenaline, breaking the hold around his neck and surging upward, fist flying into whatever body part he could find.

“Doc, you okay?” Sulu called out, trying to find McCoy and avoid getting hit again. He already had blood all over his face, and he knew he would have no shortage of bruises.

McCoy was fighting back, his opponent ducking under his swings, and herding him backwards, away from Sulu. 

Sulu was forced to turn his attention back to the ones surrounding him, shoving one back and blocking a blow from another. Occupied as he was looking for McCoy and defending himself, a tall engineer managed to get behind him, grabbing him by the hair and yanking him back. He yelped, losing his balance and falling to the ground. 

McCoy stood his ground, determined even as another joined his current opponent. “Where’s your boyfriend to help you?” One of them sneered. McCoy glanced over, hearing Sulu cry out. He turned, wanting to go and help him, reaching into his bag for a hypo. “Boyfriend?! Are you outta your crazy mind?!” Bones grunted, unimpressed with the man as he dodged another swing, even if this one came perilously close to landing. He hadn’t seen Sulu come back up yet, and he was getting worried. This was swiftly becoming a riot. Two combatants flashed by, the two who had originally started this whole mess, and McCoy lost track of where Sulu was again.

Sulu was scrambling to get up, the one who’d pulled him down was currently kicking him. “Where’s your captain? Will he save you now? Damn you and –“ He was cut off as a blueshirt layed into him. Grateful for the reprieve, no matter what form it took, Sulu rolled to his knees, struggling to get his breath back. He skittered to his feet as two others rolled past, locked in combat and paying no attention to him. He felt someone scrabbling for a hold on him from behind, and he twisted around, grabbing the man and slinging him roughly to the ground. Breathing heavily, he looked up, searching for the doctor again. “McCoy?” he rasped out, extremely worried about Bones well-being. 

The doctor was dodging the two crewman coming at him, not registering it when a third slipped up and snatched his medical bag away, tossing it to someone else. Someone shoved a body at him, missing and knocking his opponents to the floor instead. Hearing his name, he looked around. “Mister Sulu?!” He caught sight of Sulu, not liking the state of him. He did his best to escape the man currently coming at him, reaching down to his bag. McCoy’s eyes widened, looking down in shock at the realization that his medical bag was gone. 

Sulu went to move toward McCoy but was blocked by someone who quickly lashed out, striking Sulu across the jaw. He could taste blood as he stepped back a half step. “Dmmit..” He snarled, fury rising hot in his chest. He ducked under the next blow, punching the man back hard. He was a bit too satisfied at the way he went down, out cold, but he pushed that aside. His eyes landed on McCoy, following the doctors gaze to a three crewman pulling hypos out of the medical bag.

Before Sulu knew it, two men had lunged forward, grabbing each of his arms and holding him firmly still as one of the trio headed toward him, hypo in hand. A dark skinned man was looking unhappily down at the one Sulu had knocked out, and he looked up at the one with the hypo. “Let’s teach these lovers a lesson, right Kale?” 

McCoy put his hands out in protest, inwardly panicking. “No, no! You have no clue what’s in those!” He bolted forward, grabbing at the man holding Sulu’s left arm and trying to drag him off the pilot. “Run!” he snapped at Sulu, fighting to get him free.

Sulu was seething inwardly. ‘Lovers?’ Was that all people thought of him? He tried shaking off the two holding him, McCoy’s efforts helping, but he couldn’t get free. “Doc, watch out!” He tried to warn McCoy as two more came up behind the doctor, grabbing hold of him and dragging him back. He tried to lunge after them, twisting slightly and half falling as the motion sent a flash of pain through his ankle.

The two others who had been digging through the med bag went over to McCoy, one hitting him hard enough to knock him out, the other injecting him with one of the hypos. Sulu cursed as McCoy went down, eyes flickering to the one who was emerging as the leader of this little gang as the man spoke up. “Now let's do the same to this asian bastard but make it EVEN worse!" He was grinning as he looked at Sulu.

More hands grabbed Sulu, pinning him to the floor and holding him down. “Dmmit, let go, you can’t do this!” He snapped out, trying to get loose or turn to check on McCoy, anything. He was vastly outnumbered and overpowered, a point that a green female proved quite clearly as she sauntered over, applying lipstick on her lips. “But we can.” She commented, crouching down, grabbing Sulu’s chin and placing a kiss on his forehead, leaving lip marks. She smirked at him as he tried to jerk away, keeping a firm grip for a moment before straightening up and stepping back.

“None of you will be in Starfleet after this.” Sulu snarled, fury getting the best of him. He glowered at them the best he could while being held down, feeling helpless and hating it.  
One of them holding him pressed a knee into Sulu, freeing his hands to reach up and pull at the side of Sulu's eyes to make them look more slanted "How UGLY!"

"How could anyone like that?"

Sulu tries not to let the taunts get to him, but he’s honestly starting to feel real fear now. He keeps his breathing even as he can, glaring at them in defiance.

One of them laughed, the others joining in. "After this he'll never fly again! See, the good thing about pilots is that they are always replaceable."

"Little Sulu, no one will remember you once you are gone."

Sulu doesn’t say anything, there’s nothing he can say and he doesn’t exactly trust his voice right now. So he just waits, trying not to flinch as one of them slaps his face, another spitting on him.

“Kale, you got that hypo ready?” The leader asked, looking over his shoulder. 

Sulu grimaced, heart racing as he fought to keep calm. “You really don’t want to do this.” He stated, trying one last time to persuade them to stop this, now. 

“We did it to him so wouldn’t it be fair to do it to you, too?”

“Sounds romantic, Joe.” 

Kale grinned and waved they hypo, Sulu gritting his teeth in frustration as the one’s holding him down tightened their grip. He tries to jerk away again as Kale kneels down next to him, still grinning. 

“Do it.” The leader encourages him, and Kale reaches forward to grab a fistful of Sulu’s hair, tilting the pilot head slightly to access his neck. Sulu hisses at the sharp pain as they hypo is administered, whatever it is leaving a burning sensation in his throat. He feels panic, trying and failing to get free briefly before the world spins and goes dark.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being released from sickbay, Chekov and Sulu spend some time together. Chekov get the opportunity to confront one of the attackers.

Sulu was finally free of sickbay, doctor Adams had cleared him mere moments ago. Chekov had asked him if he wanted anything, and after a bad joke about coffee, Sulu took him up on an offer of food. While Karu wasn’t exactly thrilled as Chekov led the way out of sickbay, frankly he’d have preferred to stay there. 

Still, if he wanted food, the cafeteria was the place to get it. 

Chekov walked with him, glad that Sulu was well again. His mind drifted, thinking about the yesterday and Utka. He paled slightly, worried about his duck.

Sulu glanced over at him, worried at his friend. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Chekov shrugged, not really wanting to say anything. “Vell, you remember zhe ducks?” He began, voice cracking slightly. He swallowed, hesitating before continuing nervously. “I hawen’t seen Utka seence…”: He ducked his head, fighting back tears. 

Sulu winced a little at the reminder. Yes, he remembered the ducks quite well, and what had followed after. “Yeah… I saw that...” He paused for moment before continuing. “Had a crowd gathered near my quarters looking at it.” He frowned slightly in concern. “And Utka’s missing?” He reached over, patting Chekov’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him as Pav nodded. 

Chekov tilted his head slightly. “A crowd?” He wondered if that had anything to do with… this. He shook the thought away, deciding to ignore it for now. “Yes.” He said, nodding again. “I hawen’t seen her since yesterday morning. I’m so scared for her, Karu…” 

“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll help you find her.” Sulu frowned thoughtfully, wondering if he could write a program to configure the sensors to detect non humanoid lifesigns. “I’m sure she’s fine.” He stated, trying to reassure him as they headed into the cafeteria. 

Sulu glanced around uneasily as they entered. It was nerve wracking being around so many people right now, the memory of the fight still so fresh in his mind. The looks some of the crew were throwing his way, the bruises on his face likely the focus of their attention.

Chekov took a deep breath, Sulu’s reassurance helping but not completely calming his fears. He wasn’t hungry at the moment, though he hadn’t eaten in a day or two. He made his way over to a bench, noting the way many of the crew present were looking at Sulu. The pilot slid into his seat first, Chekov moving to sit in a position where he’d hopefully block Sulu from most of the crew’s view. “Ve can look after lunch I suppose.” He agreed, leaning his elbows on the table. 

“Yeah… yeah, we’ll do that.” Sulu responded, watching suspiciously as a tall engineer walked past. He tried for a teasing grin, leaning forward slightly. “Are you going to get some egg rolls?”

Sulu attempted to grin back, distracted. “…egg rolls?” He repeated, keeping as much of the tension out of his voice as he could. “Yeah, that sounds fine.” 

"I don't vant any, zhough." Chekov said with a small laugh. "Zhey are not for me. Actually, I'm not zhat hungry right now, but go ahead.” Chekov had caught on to Sulu’s tense mood, and the suspicious glances he kept casting crewmembers who came too close. The Russian looked around as well, eyes flickering from person to person. 

Sulu shook his head slightly, doing his best to ignore the rest of the crew around them. "Come on Pav, you gotta eat something." He flinched as a loud bark of laughter sounded to their left. He looked over, jaw clenching at the sight of a small group of engineers and security personnel huddled together snickering. "..what..about that...uh.. that russian dish you showed me?" He suggested, the sentence coming out slightly halted at first. He had to force himself to look away from the group, turning his gaze back to Chekov.

Chekov turned back to Sulu, abandoning his scrutiny of the others with a shrug. “Alright, eef you vant me to.” He agreed amiably, getting up to go retrieve the requested food. “Zhis ees normally for breakfast.” He grinned a little, though he had begun to take note of the way his friend was acting. He tilted his head slightly, frowning. “Do you vant to go back to my quarters to eat? Or sickbay?” He offered, lowering his voice so only Karu could hear him.

One of the engineers from the group, Sulu was fairly sure his name was Joe, spoke just loud enough to carry over the cafeteria. “Someone moves through lovers fast."

Sulu didn’t quite flinch, just ducked his head, recognizing that voice. He said nothing, his shoulders rigidly tense, not moving in his seat.

Chekov blinked, hearing the comment though it didn’t matter or register who it was directed at. “Karu?” He questioned, still whisptering. “Vhat’s vrong?”

Sulu was doing his best to breath evenly, not panic. "Yeah..let's get out of here.." He stood up, eyes still downcast. 

Joe laughed loudly, breaking off from his little group and walking over. "Better watch out he doesn't take advantage of you." The words were directed at Chekov, though Joe barely glanced at the Russian, his attention on Sulu as he sneered at the pilot.

Chekov glared at Joe, head lifted defiantly even though he had no idea what was going on. “Come on, Sulu.” He said, glaring at Joe as he headed toward the door. 

Sulu made to follow Chekov, wanting nothing more than to get out of there. Joe moved forward to, shoulder slamming into Sulu’s as he went to move past him. Hikaru let out an involuntary yelp of pain, stumbling back a bit as Joe shoved him a second later. 

"What? Can't open your eyes and look where you're going?" Joe snapped out, tone mocking.

Sulu didn’t say anything to that, glancing around warily at the few others in the cafeteria. It felt like the perfect set up for a repeat of the corridor incident, and it had Sulu very worried. He grabbed Chekov’s arm, knowing the kid would be upset, and not wanting him to get hurt doing something stupid. “Let’s go Pav.”

Joe just sneers at him, face twisted in a mocking expression, huffing a slight laugh.

Chekov had not made a move with Sulu’s hand on his arm, taking the Asian’s unspoken advice. His head whipped around to Joe at the laugh, eyes narrowed. "Leave him alone." He warned, voice snappy and angry. He glanced over at Hikaru, feeling his grip tighten slightly, but turned his gaze back to Joe. Angry as he was right now, he knew Sulu was right, and turned away to leave the cafeteria.

Joe scoffed as the two turned to leave again. "So eager.. Must just feel lucky anyone wants to look at you, much less..." He trailed off, giving his friends a suggestive look.

Hikaru’s step faltered slightly, but he ignored Joe, pushing Chekov firmly forward in case the Russian had any ideas of turning around and confronting the taller engineer. "...so, your room or sickbay?" He asked once the doors were closed behind them. His stress was evident in his tone, but there was no point in trying to hide it right now.

Chekov, who most definitely would have turned around and had words with Joe had in not been for Sulu’s pushing, stood for a moment staring at the cafeteria doors. He looked over at Sulu as he asked where they were headed. “My room.” He answered immediately, feeling it was a much safer place to be. His expression softened as he studied his friend,   
head tilting slightly. “Are you alright?”

Sulu plastered on a grin, knowing with a sharp certainty that it looked completely fake. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just hungry." He lied, shrugging slightly "Come one, let’s go." He turned without waiting for an answer, glad that Chekov was the one holding the food. He was trembling slightly, something that infuriated him. He should not be reacting this way, he was fine. He kept his distance from any crew they came across, though there were few enough. He hardly realized he was doing it, just shifting slightly away as they passed. 

Chekov trailed along beside Sulu, watching him out of the corner of his eye. There was something wrong and he wanted to help fix it. “Some people are so mean…” He sighed out,   
anger coloring his tone as he moved across the room, sitting on the bed. 

Hikaru was able to relax somewhat when they arrived, door shut securely behind them. It was marginal at best, only a slight loosening of the tension in his shoulders. He shrugged at Pavel’s comment, moving over to sit at the desk after retrieving his food from Chekov. He picked at it in silence for a moment, appetite completely vanished. “So,” He started, changing the subject completely. “Think I could reprogram the sensors to find a duck?” He smiled as he looked up at Chekov, the expression strained and awkward. 

Chekov scooted back, leaning against the wall as he thought about it. “I suppose you could.” He agreed absently, shrugging lightly. “But…” He hesitated, tears coming to his eyes. He didn’t want to even think about it, but…. “Vhat eef she’s… dead?” 

Sulu desperately wanted to comfort Chekov, would normally have gone over to him. “Don’t think that way Pav. She’s fine. Think about it. It probably wasn’t her, otherwise there’d have only been the one.” He tried to convince Chekov, gathering up the courage to stand up and move next to the bed. “She’s fine…” He tried to put as much confidence in the statement as he could, sliding into a seated position on the edge of the bed.

Pavel looked up, frowning at Sulu. "But zhere vere so many.. Zhey vere ewervhere." He explained, choking up as the words came out. "And zhen you vere hurt and I vas so vorried about you." He was speaking quickly, feeling like he was rambling but once the words started they wouldn’t stop. "I zhought you vere going to DIE, Karu." 

Sulu scooted a tiny bit closer, heart sinking as the tears started rolling down Chekovs face. "Hey, hey. I'm fine now." It was another lie, he wasn’t fine. The bruises were still very present, ugly and dark, and he couldn’t forget the feeling of being pinned down. He put on a smile, hoping it was convincing. "And Utka will turn up, and she'll be fine too." It might not make sense, but it was Karu’s on special brand of logic. He put a comforting hand on Chekov’s shoulder, head tilting slightly as Pavel looked up at him again.

Chekov managed a smile, wiping away his tears before moving forward suddenly to hug Sulu. Hikaru managed not to jerk away, though his entire body was urging him to do so.   
He went rigid for a moment, nervous at the hold the Russian had on him. He forced himself to relax, hugging Chekov in return. “See? It’ll be fine.” He stated, not sure who he was trying to convince, himself or Chekov.

After a moment Pavel pulled away, taking a couple deep breaths. “I hope so.” He said quietly, smiling softly.

Sulu let out a laugh, feeling both relief and guilt at said relief when Chekov pulled back. “Yeah…” he agreed. He wanted to move away, get some space, but he didn’t want to hurt   
Chekov’s feelings. He was trying to comfort him, not worry him. “Yeah. No worries.” He repeated, managing to sound more confident that time.

Chekov moved closer, half snuggling against Sulu’s shoulder, mindful of his injuries but still wanting the closeness. He started nibbling at his lunch, content that things were getting back to normal.

Sulu remained still, unease growing as he sat there. Chekov’s weight, slight as it might have been, felt very restrictive on his shoulder. The silence felt heavy, awkward and oppressive. He needed to move, wanted to move, but this was something Pav and he had always done. Sat together, doing nothing, just relaxing. 

"How vere your egg rolls?" Chekov asked, interrupting Sulu’s thoughts.

"Uh..." He glanced over at the uneaten food on the desk. "..wasn't really that hungry..." He hoped the tension didn’t show in his voice, worrying that Pav might be suspicion. He wasn’t exactly being as cuddly as normal.

Chekov frowned, twisting slightly to look at Sulu. He pulled away immediately as he noted the strained expression. “I’m sorry! Vas I hurting you?” He asked, tone frantic. 

Sulu winced, worrying Chekov had NOT been what he wanted. “No, no…” He shrugged a little, grasping at the first thing he could think of to reassure the Russian. “The bruises aren’t that bad…” He stopped short, realizing that this wouldn’t exactly ease Chekov’s mind and was likely to worry him more. Dmmit.

Chekov’s eyes went wide, voice lowering to a barely audible whisper. “Zhere are more?” His eyes traveled slowly to Sulu’s shoulder. He could clearly see the one’s on his friends face and neck, but he hadn’t realized there were others.

Sulu struggled to find the words to make this better. "...Adams said I was fine." He wanted to head off any panic now, and prevent Chekov from worrying at all.

Chekov bit his tongue, eyes filled with worry much to Sulu’s dismay. "Eet doesn't matter vhat he says, eet doesn't change zhe fact zhat you apparently hawe more injuries zhan you're letting on." His eyes meet Sulu’s and the pilot wanted to just cringe at the sadness in them. 

"Come on, Pav. I didn't mean to worry you. I promise, you didn't hurt me." Sulu was desperate to make that sadness go away, trying to think of any way he could to convince him. 

"I'll alvays vorry about you, Karu." Chekov replied, brow furrowing. He considered Sulu’s promise. "Okay, but eef I ewer do, please tell me." He settled back down again, though nowhere near at ease. As soon as he had finished his lunch, he was going to go back to the cafeteria and have a talk with Joe. Resolved, he angrily started eating once more.

Sulu watched Chekov as the kid ate, worried. They were both quiet for a while, Chekov eating and Sulu trying to think of a way to lift the mood. He smiled a little, elbowing Chekov gently. "Remember when we first met Adams?" He asked, an attempt to remind Chekov of a better time and a funny story, hoping to get a smile.

Chekov looked over, laughing a little and giving Sulu the smile he’d been aiming for. "Zhat vas zhe day ve had zhat competition. Zhat I von, by zhe vay." He wriggled his eyebrows, smirking.

Sulu chuckled, his own spirits lifting at the ridiculous look Pav was giving him. “Yeah, again.” He agreed.

"Vhen vill you learn zhat you vill newer beat a Russian at drinking?" Chekov teased, rolling his eyes.

"Probably never."

Pavel giggled as Sulu poked him slightly. "You vill newer beat me zhere, but I vill newer beat you at flying."

Sulu’s smile wavered a bit at that comment, mind skittering back to the corridor, the taunts. He chuckled. “Yeah, guess I got you there.”

"You know, you should enter a contest someday. A flying contest." He looked at Karu with big eyes, grinning widely."You vould vin hands down!"

Sulu looked away, grin fading completely. His stomach was twisted up in knots, the words of the crewmen that had held him down echoed in his mind. "...yeah maybe.." 

Pavel frowned, confused as to what had happened. They had been having a good time, laughing even. "Karu." He began, setting the empty plate to the side. "Somezhing's bozhering you. Don't try to hide eet. I can tell."

Sulu just sighed, side stepping the inquiry. "It's just something someone said. I'll be fine." He cast a glance at Chekov, looking down at his hands frowning. He felt ridiculous. "It's just words."

Chekov shook his head. "Hikaru Sulu, words can hurt as much as a punch can!" He reached up, tracing a bruise on Sulu’s face. "And obwiously eet vas more zhan just vords."

Sulu pulled away from Chekov’s hand, standing up quickly and stepping back before his brain had a chance to catch up. “…don’t do that...” He said, hear racing. He stiffened, feeling like an idiot for reacting that way. He was with Pav, he should be fine. 

Chekov hugged his knees, watching Sulu. “I'm sorry. I deedn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable..." He closed his eyes, taking a breath. "You're my best friend. I vant to help you."

Sulu moved to sit back down, apologizing softly. “Sorry… sorry.” He hesitated, wanting to explain but not sure he could right now. "It wasn't just a fight in the corridor..." He stops, sighing lightly. "I know, you're my best friend too." He scooted over to sit next to Chekov. "...I hate being so jumpy..."

Chekov opened his eyes to look at Sulu, understanding. “You can't help eet. Eet's okay." He fiddled with the edge of the blanket, wanting to get something off his chest. "I'm sorry about zhe ozher day. Yesterday, I mean. I'm not really sure vhat happened, but I zhink I offended you somehow. I'm sorry..."

Sulu was puzzled for a moment, pulling back slightly with a blank face as he remembered. “Ah…no.” He pulled one leg up on the bed, propping his chin up with a knee. “I was   
being stupid.” Stupid for getting upset in the first place, and stupider for snapping at Chekov. Stupid for caring about a stuffed bear. Stupid for allowing that to affect his work... His thoughts spiraled down, darkening as he silently berated himself. 

Chekov snorted, catching Karu’s attention. "How vere you being stupid? You vere tired zhat day, and so vas I." He shrugged, feeling awkward and hating it because this was Sulu.  
Sulu shrugged as well, trying to explain. "Shouldn't have made such a big deal out of it. It wasn't your fault. Some of the security and engineering crew been giving me a hard time.   
I shouldn't have taken it out on you..."

Chekov straightened up some, at that frowning. "Who vas eet? I'll take 'em down for you..." He got to his feet, ready to hunt them down then and there. 

“NO!” Sulu’s eyes widened, reaching out instantly and tugging Chekov back down. “No, look McCoy and I will file an official report and it'll be dealt with through official channels."   
There was no way he was going to let Chekov go storming off and possibly get hurt.

Chekov jumped a little at the outburst, allowing Sulu to tug him back down to sit on the edge of the bed. "But zhat vill not change vhat zhey hawe done to you!" He complained, folding his arms stubbornly. "Someone must teach zhem a lesson. Not just get kicked out of Starfleet. Zhat's not enough, Karu, don't you see?!" He got to his feet again, pacing somewhat.

Sulu watched him, frustration rising. "And let you get kicked out for whatever it is you’re planning?" He stood, moving infront of Chekov to ensure he had his attention. "What they did is done. You can't change it. If you do something it might give them a chance to get away with it." While he isn’t entirely sure that argument makes sense, it does to him so maybe Chekov will understand.

Pavel finally stops, running a hand through his hair and sighing deeply. "Eef I get kicked out for doing vhat I'm zhinking I vill be glad." He stands with his arms folded, looking Sulu up and down. His friend is hurt and he wants to avenge him. He presses his lips together as he takes in the bruises, how dare they do that. 

This wasn't working. Taking on a far different tactic, Sulu leaned back slightly, fixing Chekov with the saddest, most wounded puppy eyes he could manage. “So you are ok with getting kicked out of Starfleet and letting me pilot this ship and stay here all on my own?”

Chekov blinked, expression softening as he rocked back on his heels to look at Sulu. "No, I suppose not..." He conceded. The pilot had a good point. If he got kicked out there would be no more adventures, no more seeing his best friend every day, and no more pranks. Slowly, Chekov sat back down, though his determined expression stayed where it was. "Alright, but I'm still going to go talk to zhem later." And he knew where to start. Joe was most certainly involved.

Sulu sighed, going to sit next to him. "If I absolutely can't stop you..." He began, eyeing Chekov carefully in an attempt to gauge whether he could dissuade his friend. "...be careful." He couldn’t express the need for care enough. They might not have hyposprays this time, Sulu was confident that had been a chance occurrence, but they were still dangerous. "They weren't exactly worried about our safety..." 

Chekov nodded with a smile, glad Sulu was not going to hold him back. "Of course I'll be careful. Eef zhey start zhrowing punches, I'll retreat." A statement that was not entirely true, but he would exercise a certain degree of caution. "How deed eet start, anyvay?" He tilted his head slightly, curious. 

Sulu frowned, but let Chekov’s statement go unquestioned, choosing to answer the kid’s question, though in the shortest way possible. "...crowd in the corridor." He didn’t mention the duck, not wanting to remind Pav about Utka. "McCoy and I were trying to get them back to their posts, there were some remarks, it escalated from there."

"Vhat sort of remarks?" 

Sulu sighed again, taking in the frown on Chekov’s face. "Mostly bout the bear." And oh, it hurt how he called it the bear, but Sulu couldn’t speak the pet name for his plushie right now. His voice lowered, barely a whisper as he admitted the next one. "...bout me and McCoy..."

Chekov lowered his voice as well, confusion in his tone. "You and zhe doctor?" That explained a little bit about what that guy in the cafeteria was saying, but it was still confusing. "....but don't zhey know you're married?"

Sulu scoffed, trying to hold it together. "Yeah, some of them..." His jaw clenched, hands fisting in his lap. ".....what if one of them...I haven't been able to talk to Ben since this started...What if he hears about it..." He’s started to shake a little, though whether in anger or fear, he has no idea.

Chekov bit his tongue nervously, placing a hand on Sulu’s shoulder. "Ben vill understand. Ewen eef eet reaches him, vhich eet probably von't." He tries to give Sulu a convincing smile. "Ees zhere any vay you can contact him now?"

"I sent him a message yesterday.. but he's on some business trip. Some important thing going on." Sulu shook his head before leaning against Chekov. "...just don't want even a little bit of doubt there..." It hurt that anyone would think he was the kind of person who would do that. He didn’t know how he would handle it if Ben were to begin to doubt him.

"He knows your trustvorthy. You're not zhe kind of guy to do zhat, and I'm sure he knows zhat." Pavel manages a small smile, trying to comfort his friend. "Eef eet makes you feel better, leawe him anozher message or somezhing. Zhen, eef he hears zhe news, he'll know eet isn't true."

Sulu hums slightly in agreement, the stress and tension of the day having exhausted him to the point of crashing. "I'm really glad we're friends."

Chekov let out a soft sigh, nodding in agreement. "Me too. I don't know vhat I'd do vithout you." He leaned his head against Sulu’s shoulder.

The pilot smiled, peeking up at Chekov as he shifted to get more comfortable. "Same. So don't go getting kicked out or anything.." It felt good to genuinely relax.

"I promise I von't." Chekov promised, truly meaning it. He had no intentions of abandoning his plans though. He sat still, enjoying the moment of relaxation, they’d become so rare. 

Sulu let out a pleased, hum, mumbling sleepily. "....mm. Good."

After a few minutes Chekov glanced down at Sulu, grinning in a silent laugh. "You look tired, Karu. You should get some sleep. You need eet."

Karu snorted, not opening his eyes. "Whzzit look like I'm doing? Running a marathon?" He snickered at the joke, even though it was the worst he’d come up with probably ever.   
Still, it was worth it to hear Chekov laugh.

Pavel was delighted to hear the Sulu he knew and loved emerge again, telling silly jokes. He straightened, poking Sulu lightly in the shoulder. "Vell, you're not going to get eet een my room." He informed him, sticking out his tongue. It wasn’t that he wanted to push Karu out, but he had plans to get to. "Get your own bed."

Sulu winced a little at the poke, his shoulder still tender. Reluctantly he sat up, standing up to stretch. “Fine, fine…” 

Chekov stood up as well, smiling and giving Karu a quick, gentle hug. “Ill check een on you later, okay?” If he was still alive, he though wryly, considering what he planned on doing.

Sulu was a little on edge, his room was two decks down, but he pushed it aside. He was totally fine going by himself, at least that’s what he told himself. He would just avoid the section where… He forced a grin, playfully saluting Chekov. "Yeah, see you later." With that, Sulu turned, heading to his own room for some sleep.

Chekov waited a few minutes, wanting to be sure Sulu had truly left, before making his way back to the cafeteria in search of Joe. 

He found him there, in the middle of some story that had the two officers next to him laughing. Chekov approached them, stonefaced though his annoyance was evident. "Joe, can I talk to you? Alone."

Joe looked Chekov up and down, evaluating him for a moment before smirking. "Sure, kid." 

Chekov moved a few steps to the side with him away from the group, then turned to face him. He was slightly nervous, Joe was bigger than he’d expected, thought the anger overrode that. "What did you do to Sulu?" He asked, folding his arms and getting straight to the point.

Joe scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Nothing. I don't swing that way."

“ Zhen vhat deed you call zhat earlier? Teasing him like that." Chekov asked, raising an eyebrow. "I know you deed somezhing."

Joe rolled his eyes again, irritated and unconcerned. “Look, if you got that big an issue with the Asian, go talk to his boyfriend. Maybe he'll put him in his place again."

Chekov was getting angrier with every word Joe said, but he tried to remain calm. "I don't hawe any problem vith Sulu; you're zhe problem." 

Joe shrugged at that, not getting riled up in the least. “Guess he is pretty easy." The comment was tossed out lightly, Joe giving his friends a smug amused glance. 

Chekov blinked at that, confused. "Easy? Vhat do you mean?"

Joe scoffed. This kid couldn’t be serious, though he’d happily spell it out for the brat. "Easy. Seriously? McCoy got him for a stuffed bear, and you get a roll with him for breakfast."   
He shook his head, he shouldn’t be surprised, sheltered little Russian here didn’t know anything. "I'm not your nanny, go learn about birds and bees from someone who cares." He turned away, intending to go back to his friends.

Chekov blinked, but brushed the comment aside, it didn’t matter anyway. “Vait, I’m not done vith you.” He stated, frowning as he reached over to grab Joe’s shoulder. "You newer explained yourself."

Joe turned around quickly, knocking Chekov’s hand away and stepping forward aggressively into Chekov’s space. "I don't have to explain myself to some bridge ensign." 

Chekov determinedly held his ground, locking eyes with Joe. "No, not to a bridge ensign, but as Sulu's friend you do." 

Joe’s eyes narrowed, hands clenching into fists, more than ready to teach the kid a lesson. "Then why don't you go ask him. He paused, eyes flickering to the cafeteria door as a few senior officers entered. Rethinking their current situation, he took a step back, calming himself and relaxing. "I didn't do anything. Get over it."

"I von't get ower eet. Somezhing obwiously happened to him. I saw the vay he covered vhen you "bumped" into him. I vant to know vhat happened to the brave, cocky Sulu I once knew. Now he's a trembling mess scared of his own shadow." Chekov’s voice rose slightly in volume, stepping forward a bit as he demanded and answer. 

Joe was unimpressed with the display, his own anger fading as he smirked at Pavel. "Yeah, he's a pathetic mess. Everyone always knew that." He tilted his head in a smug type of contemplation. "I wonder what he'd think knowing you just called him a...what was it? "A trembling mess?" He looked over at his friends who had, by this time, turned to watch the drama. "I've even got witnesses."

Chekov spoke quickly in response, tearing up slightly "He vasn't alvays like zhat! And I vouldn't hawe said eet eef eet vasn't true! Eet's true now and eet's all your fault!" He jammed a finger into Joe’s chest for emphasis. "Admit it. Vhat do you hawe to lose? Nozhing. I hope zhey zhrow you off zhis sheep." He finished, taking deep breaths and trying to control   
his tears. The last thing he wanted was to start crying here. 

Joe stepped back a little as the Russian poked him, but he was far too amused to get angry at the kid’s presumption. This was gold. He’d known the pilot was pathetic, seen it not too long ago, but this? He laughed, glancing over at his friend. "Wow, you hear that? A seventeen year old kid thinks the enterprise's so called 'star pilot’ is a weak blubbering mess." He shook his head, chuckling cruelly as he looked back at Chekov. "Man, that doctor must have wrecked him. First the bear, now this?" 

Chekov’s face was turning red, temper rising once more. "Stop eet! Just stop eet! Vhy do you keep insisting zhey're a zhing?" He gestured to one of the men Joe had been talking to earlier "Are you two a zhing? I bet you are." He folded his arms, looking up at Joe as he tried to prove his point. 

Joe raised an eyebrow, looking down at Chekov. "You see me giving gift and visiting his room? No. Now, that Jessica chick.." He trailed off, smiling slowly. 

Chekov rolled his eyes. "You must not be wery good friends zhen." He froze, registering what Joe had said about Jessica. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH JESSICA." He screamed at the taller engineer, taking another step forward, hands clenched by his sides as he did his very best to be intimidating. 

Joe stepped back, holding up his hands in mock surrender. They had the entire cafeteria’s attention now. "Touchy much? Should I call security? We wouldn't want there to be another...incident."

Chekov frowned, lowering his volume though his response was no less angry. "Zhere von't be anyzhing on my part. Unless you vant to step outside."

Joe laughed at him. "Please kid. Like I'd waste my time."

Raising his eyebrows, Chekov crossed his arms, tone dropping to nearly a whisper. "I'm stronger zhan I look." 

Joe had all but stopped paying him any attention, a new idea had come to mind. "uh huh. Sure sure." He pulled out his phone, scrolling through it for a second before giving Chekov a vicious smirk. "Hey, what's your new lays number? I wanna tell him how much a trembling shadowy mess he is." 

Chekov was tempted to reach over at smack the phone out of his hands, but he refrained, choosing instead to reiterate his initial question. "Are you going to tell me vhat happened or no?" 

Joe sighed, typing away in the phone, ignoring Chekov. The kid had begun to turn away when he responded uncaringly. "Little upstart got what he had coming." He paused, glancing up at Pavel, adding in an unconcerned afterthought. "If you ask me." 

Chekov jerked his attention back to Joe, shocked and angry. "No one deserves zhat kind of treatment!"

Joe didn’t even look up at that, still typing on his phone. “Pretty sure I didn't ask you."

"Pretty sure no one asked you either." Chekov snapped back, tone slightly mocking as he tried to throw the man’s words back at him. 

"Few did actually." Joe answered, merely shrugging at Chekov’s words. He glanced up at him coldly. "Not that they'd bother talking to a punk like you."

Chekov snorted at that. "Vhat, people actually asked you to beat someone up? Zhat's pretty low."

"That's not what I said." Joe signed, finishing his text and sending it. "Listen are you gonna stand here and bug me all day?"

"I don't know. Are you going to keep beating people up and emotionally scarring zhem?"

Joe gave him a mocking glare, tone colored with a slight sarcasm, and a slight threat. "I don't know. Are you going to keep bothering me?" 

Chekov’s resolve is crumbling slightly, though he gives no outward expression. "Go ahead. Do it. Get kicked out. See eef I care."

Joe gave him a deadpan look. "What makes you think I'm going anywhere?" He wass smug, confident as if he knew something. 

Chekov smirked at that. "Zhere are two wery large pieces of ewidence valking around. You tell me." 

Joe smirks, barely holding back a laugh at the kids words, turning back to his phone and typing out another text. "Piece. of. evidence." He spoke as he typed, smirk widening. "Wow, you really know your sweet talk don't you."

"As long as you and all zhe ozhers zhat are inwolwed get zhrown out, I don't care vhat happens. Just leawe Sulu alone, okay?" He glared at Joe, ignoring the engineers words.

Losing his tolerance for the banter, Joe snapped the phone shut, standing abruptly. He leaned forward, close enough to Chekov that the Russian would be the only one to hear his next words. "Let’s get one thing straight. We aren't going anywhere. And that Asian bastard is going to have to mind his manner." He straightened, face a mask of cold hatred, pushing past the navigator on his way out.

Chekov had flinched slightly as Joe drew closer, hair standing up on the back of his neck. He straightened as Joe turned to leave, eyes narrowed in indignation. "Eef you treat him like zhat he doesn't need to show you any manners!"

Jo smirked darkly, not turning around and continuing on his way.

Chekov glanced at the people Joe had been talking to before he’d interrupted. They were giving him a smug sort of look, though were quickly going back to speaking amongst themselves. He needed to cool off before going back to Sulu. He wandered the ship for a while, temper cooling bit by bit. Eventually he found himself in front of Sulu’s door, not even having paid attention to the trip there. He knocked gently.

Sulu was completely unconscious inside, sleeping a bit fitfully sprawled on his bed. He mumbled at the gentle knock, not really waking up though his mind registered the noise.

Quietly, Chekov entered the room, looking over with a soft smile at Sulu sleeping. Good, Karu needed his rest. He glanced around, searching out Sulu’s. He didn’t want Karu to see what Joe had sent.

He found the phone after a moment, opening it and reading the nasty texts, the words turning his stomach in knots. The way Joe made it sound… yes he’d said those things, but not in that context. Lip pressed together in a thin frown, he deleted them, turning to set the phone back down. Somehow tripping over his own feet, he fell to the floor with a loud thud, breath huffing out of him in a whoosh.

Sulu was on his feet in an instant, standing on the bed and blinking down at Chekov. It was silent for a moment but, Sulu breathing in a ragged panic that was quickly fading into confusion. "....Pav? ...what are you doing?"

Chekov flushed, discreetly slipping Sulu’s phone in his pocket and standing up, trying to play it off. "I vas coming to see how you vere and I... tripped."

Sulu dropped down on his bed, sitting cross legged as he regarded his friend in amusement. "...you'd make a terrible cat burglar."

Chekov laughed, sitting down next to Sulu, close to where the phone had originally been. "Did you sleep vell? Until I came crashing in here?"

Sulu shrugged at the question. "I've slept worse." He peered at Chekov, a bit suspicious. He didn’t know how long he’d been sleeping, but it must have been long enough for Chekov to get up to something. "...what have you been up to?"

Pavel ducked his head, instantly quiet. “I talked to Joe…” He admitted after a few moments silence. 

"What?!" Sulu yelped, looking Chekov over, turning him so he could check for injuries. "What happened.. are you okay?" 

Chekov jerked away, shaking his head. "I'm fine, he didn't touch me. Too many people around probably."

Sulu backed off confused slightly at how his friend was acting. “Sorry.” He paused slightly, unsure. Chekov was acting a little off and it was extremely worrisome. “Did he say something?”

Chekov nodded slowly, wishing Karu would stop looking at him, and wriggled slightly. "He said a lot of zhings." 

Sulu felt his heart sink, not entirely sure he wanted to know, but still had to ask. Especially if it would make Pav feel better. "Ah… You wanna get it off your chest?"

Chekov shrugged, hesitating. Yes, actually he did. He let out a big sigh before speaking. "He kept insisting you and McCoy were a... not a zhing exactly but zhat you..." He had to pause for a moment, getting his emotions under control as he pulled out Sulu’s phone. "He used my vords against me...I didn't vant you to see..."

Sulu frowned, it always came back to him and McCoy. He was scared to look, but he couldn’t not, and he held his hand out for the phone.

"I deleted zhem." Chekov admitted, voice quiet and slightly shamed.

Sulu looked at him sadly, asking. "What did he say? That was that bad? What did you say, that he was using against you?"

"Eet's not important now." Chekov fell back on Sulu’s bed, staring at the ceiling sadly.

Sulu tilted his head a bit but let the matter drop. He trusted Chekov, and besides he could almost guess what Joe had likely said. "Alright.... You gonna be ok?"

Chekov smiled some, glancing over. "Yeah, I'll be okay. Vill you?"

Sulu smiled back, falling back as well and looking up at the ceiling. “Yeah.” He answered softly. “Yeah, I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the choppiness of this story, and the time skips. Maybe one day I'll get around to filling in the gaps. But again, this is just a piece of an underlying RP that a I participated in with a group of friends.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The main ones responsible for what happened to McCoy and Sulu have been arrested and are being put on trial.

McCoy was walking beside Sulu, frowning and trying to hide his concern as he looked at the pilot. “You ready for this?” There were located at what was the nearest and most prestigious Starfleet base, the grand building infront of them the courthouse.

They were nearly at the doors, Sulu feeling jittery with nerves as he glanced at the doctor. “No.” he answered honestly, knowing full well that didn’t matter. “…Let’s do this.” He quipped, forced bravado coloring his tone. He looked nervously at McCoy, the two of them stopping infront of the large double doors. McCoy turned to look at Sulu, placing both hands on the other man’s shoulders. “You gotta be strong and hold your ground, Mister Sulu. Things are most likely gonna get nasty in there.” His brow furrowed. “Trust me on this. The last one we had, the guy got off free as if it was no problem.” 

Sulu looked at McCoy silently for a moment, a sort of horror growing and showing on his face. The doctors words, necessary as they might have been, were doing absolutely nothing to calm his nerves. “Yeah.” He stated evenly, taking in a deep breath. “Thanks.” 

He could do this. He could do this. Sulu hoped chanting that to himself might help…it didn’t.

McCoy nodded. “Right.” 

Together they walked through the doors into the courthouse, making their way to the waiting room until their case was called. Sulu glanced over at McCoy as they sat down. “You ok?” He asked, feeling guilty that he’d not even thought to ask until now. McCoy was probably having just as bad a time as him.

“…fine like this fine kettle of fish.” Sulu didn’t have much time to be confused by what was yet another strange metaphor from the doctor as the doors to the courtroom. They were called in, a bailiff standing there to escort them. McCoy eyed Sulu with concern before leading the way.

The room is quite grand, decorated with statues, decrees and laws hanging framed along the walls, the furniture made of a deep rich wood. Everyone was staring as the two were escorted up, some of the top officials sitting in the stands. The four men being singled out as the ringleaders were glaring at them from their spots at the front. The jury to the far right have critical expressions on as they eye the two officers, onlookers and important guest watching as Sulu and McCoy move to stand infront of their chairs. McCoy ignores eye contact with them all, keeping his story straight and together in his head, hoping that Sulu is doing the same.

Sulu was doing his best to ignore the four men glaring at him, though it was difficult. He’s both relieved and ashamed that McCoy and their representative lawyer, Jeff, are sitting between him and the four red shirts. After a moment, the judge walks in, her black robes swirling imperiously as she takes her position and looks out at the courtroom. “You may sit down. This trial will begin.”

A member of the court walks over, handing the Judge a PADD and some other documents. The judge looks through them briefly as everyone in the room takes their seats. “We are here to resolve a dispute between the plaintiff, Hikaru Sulu and Leonard McCoy versus the defendant, Joe, Kale, Dave, and Ricky.” The judge looks down at the PADD, reading out the next part. “The charges are assault and battery, insubordination, and destruction of property.” She looked up as she finished, eyes on the defendant’s lawyer. “How do you plead?”

The defense stood, fingertips on the table as he leaned forward addressing the judge. “We plead not guilty.”

The judge nodded as he sat back down, turning her attention to the plaintiff’s side. “You may call your first witness.”

Jeff stood up, nodding to the judge respectfully. “Our first witness we call to the stand is Joe.”

Joe stood up, making his way to the stand, sweating lightly. He blinked at Jeff silently as he waited for the first question.

Jeff began pacing a little, coming to a stop and beginning the questions. “Joe, where you involved in the incident on Deck 6 four days ago?”

“I was there, yes.” 

“And there was a fight, correct?”

“Yes, there was.” 

“And did you hear your commanding officer clearly state to return to your post?"

“Yes.”

"Did you obey that order?"

“Was planning to."

Jeff raised an eyebrow at that response, giving the jury an incredulous look. "Planning to?" He looked back at Joe and continued. "Is there a Starfleet regulation that allows for an officer to 'plan' to follow an order?"

Joe frowned, glancing over to his lawyer before answering. “If a fight breaks out in the middle of the hallway, wouldn't you think such an event would put a stop to someone who was trying to get back?"

"And you participated in this fight?"

“In means of defense."

"So you were defending yourself?"

"Yes. Certainly any, under the circumstance of a leader corrupting their position would do the same. Something we're all entitled to, Sir." Joe was settled back a little more confidently in the stand now.

McCoy frowned, not liking the implications.

Jeff’s brow furrowed in contemplation. That wasn’t an argument he’d been expecting. "And how is pinning that leader to the ground, with the help of more than one person, and subsequently injecting him with an unknown substance, self defense?"

Sulu tensed at that question, jaw clenching as he listened to the answer.

"I was not a participant and sorry, I must correct something I had said before..." Joe stated, coughing slightly as he amended his previous statement. "Leaders."

Jeff chose not to pursue that particular distinction. "So you are saying you did not lay a hand on either Hikaru Sulu or Leonard McCoy in a means meant to restrain them?"

"I did not go out my way to physically harm them."

"But did you restrain them?"

The defendant lawyer stood up at this point, looking to the judge. “How long is the plaintiff allowed to carry on?”

The judged thought for a moment before turning to Jeff. “Is there a point to this?”

"I'm merely attempting to iterate that Joe was a participant in the willful harm of my clients." Jeff stated, doing his best to hold his ground against the glare the judged was currently giving him. She didn’t back down and eventually Jeff sighed and shook his head. “No further questions.” He tossed a glance at the defense. “Your witness.” 

Sulu leaned over to whisper to McCoy, completely puzzled. “What just happened?” It certainly didn’t sound like it had been going in their favor.

The defense lawyer stood up, not moving from in front of his chair. "First I would like to confirm what the defense has said. Joe has stated that he had not gone out of his way to physically harm anyone and was acting in means of defense. Is not restraining someone a way to prevent the particular individual from performing any harm? Aren't those who are victimized given the right to free from any act of suppression?"

McCoy turned to Sulu when the defense had finished. “That just happened.” Sulu could only sit there in a shocked silence.

Jeff slid over to them, shuffling some things around. “It’s fine. We still have a good case.” He informed them, trying to bolster their spirits.

The judge nods at Joe as he goes to his seat before looking at Jeff. “Your next witness?”

“We call Kale to the stand.” 

Jeff proceeds quickly with the questions once Kale has taken the stand.

“Kale, you were present and participated in the fight that occurred, correct?”

"Yes, only fighting in means of self defense." Kale sounded far more confident than Joe had in the beginning.

"And did you inject mister Sulu with a Hypo?"

Kale tries not to smirk, giving Jeff a confused look. "What is a hypo again?"

Jeff scowled slightly, going over to the desk and sifting through some evidence before he found what he was looking for. "This was recovered, having your fingerprints and residue of the substance that was injected into my client. Do you deny ever having used it?" He held up a hypospray, showing it to the jury.

"Oh, sorry, a hypospray is what you meant." He was forced to admit, knowing he could not lie while on trial and get away with it. "Yes, I did. Not in a malicious way."

The defense lawyer stood up, interrupting Jeff before he could continue. "Can I just say something quickly, your honour?"

The judge gave him a sharp look, shaking her head. “You will need to wait your turn.”

Jeff smiled at the judge. “Thank you your honor.” He shot a nasty look at the defense lawyer before continuing his line of questioning. "When you injected him, Sulu was pinned and unable to move. Could you explain the reasoning behind injecting him, when he was well restrained and incapable of doing any harm?"

The defense lawyer huffed at this, standing once more. “Please, your honor?” 

The judged frowned, this time at Jeff, before motioning the defense to continue.

"As we know by now what the definition of restraining is in a self-defensive situation, which is perfectly acceptable, I won't repeat it. In the files, Mister Kale reported that he had in fact picked up the hypo/spray/. Mister Kale, at the time, was in such a shocked state after the hostile actions of his leaders that he may have seen the medical instrument on the floor and picked it up in hopes that no one would touch it. As far as we know, there are no accounts or WITNESSES of Mister Kale aggressively going out to inject Mister Sulu and there is a chance that while Mister Sulu was engaging in a fight, may have fallen back and slipped onto the hypospray. Sadly, as Mister Kale had touched the hypospray and may have dropped it in the mean time before Mister Sulu's /drastic/ fall, it would have injected the pilot."

Sulu glanced over with a worried look as McCoy muttered under his breath. “Because I was knocked out!" Catching the pilot’s look, McCoy raised an eyebrow, as if to tell him ‘told you this is what they’re like.’

Finished with that witness, Jeff moved to sit beside McCoy for a moment, leaning over to speak to the two of them. "Okay, so we might have to drop the insubordination line. They got that pretty well covered it seems..." He paused, a grimace crossing his face. "I can try again, but the jury doesn't very sympathetic, and the Judge is getting tired of that line."

McCoy frowned, vastly irritated. “What?! You can't be serious."

Jeff sighed, trying to explain. - "We can try that angle again when you two take the stand, for now the best I can do is build sympathy best I can. The assault and battery is going to be hard to pull off with their self defense line. I'll do my best to get them off of that but..." 

The judge cleared her throat loudly, drawing the group’s attention. “Your next witness, if I could interrupt."

Jeff smiled apologetically. "Yes, of course. We call Ricky to the stand"

The man in question sauntered up to the stand. It appeared the defendants confidences were only rising. Jeff was determined to do what he could to change that.

Sulu leaned toward McCoy as Jeff approached the witness. "You think they'll actually win this?” He couldn’t help worry that they would. That they’d get off with no repercussions and be allowed to stay aboard the Enterprise.

McCoy’s response wasn’t exactly comforting. “Who knows....? I ain't feeling too optimistic at this point. Their guy hasn't even started playin' with us, yet." Sulu cringed a little inside at how McCoy worded that, but he knew it was no less true.

Jeff started his questioning, tone confident. - "From your perspective, what happened on the day in question? What led up to the outbreak of the fight?"

"Well, as the guys here can attest to, we were oppressed by two of our leaders who are... lovers... which is quite interesting when you think about it." The three other defendants smirked at one another, and a few people in the crowd coughed, murmuring and shifting awkwardly. "These two joined together, in a twisted coalition, and worked together to gain more control over us."

McCoy’s eyes widened upon hearing that, his outburst nowhere near a whisper. “What?!”

To the right the jury start muttering to each other, casting Sulu and McCoy appraising glances.

Ricky continued, speaking above the noise. "You could call it some... deranged partnership."

Sulu pressed his lips together thinly, letting out a slow breath as he tried to keep calm.

The judge glared at McCoy, whose initial outburst she blamed for the steadily rising wave of noise. “Enough. Quiet.” She ordered the rest of the courtroom, turning her glare briefly upon the jury and the muttering crowd.

Jeff was silent for a moment, taken completely by surprise at this turn of events. "And you have proof of this?" he asked, spitting out the first question that came to mind as he scrambled for some semblance of control.

"Yes. You can just ask the whole Enterprise." Was Ricky’s quipped response. His lawyer stood up a moment later to clarify. "We have a witness for the Plaintiff's inquiry, your honour."

Jeff glared over at him again. The judge also looked over, commenting dryly. - "You'll have your chance to call your own witness." She turned back to Jeff as the silence stretched. “Are you finished?" she asked him impatiently.

Jeff hesitated, thinking quickly. He could come up with nothing, so he conceded, deciding the sooner Ricky was off the stand the better. "No more questions." He was beginning to worry they might lose this case, and the defense attorneys eager expression only made that feeling worse.

The judge glanced over at the defense. "Any questions for this witness before the next is called?"

"I would like to speak to McCoy when your honour feels when appropriate to do so." The defense lawyer stated, a plan already formed.

McCoy looked over at Sulu. Seeing the look, the defense taunted him. "I'm sure Mister Sulu will not be going anywhere, Doctor McCoy."

The judge frowned. "You'll have your chance to call your own witnesses after the plaintiff, as you should know."

Sulu sat still, trying to remain calm. “Just ignore him McCoy.” He cautioned, not wanting the doctors temper to get him into trouble. McCoy didn’t say anything else, though his frown deepened.

The judge was waving Ricky off the stand now, looking at Jeff. “Your next witness.”

Jeff glanced at McCoy, uneasy about putting him on the stand, especially given the defense had specifically singled him out. But they would call him up on their own if he didn’t, so now was as good a time as any. "We call Leonard McCoy to the stand.” He stated, silently wishing his client luck.

The defense lawyer was fighting an excited grin as he watched McCoy take the stand. 

Deciding on trying a different approach, Jeff moved forward with the questioning. “Doctor McCoy, what brought you to deck 6 on the day of the incident?"

"I was on the way to a private appointment. A patient suffering from deliria had called."

"And did you make it to that appointment?"

"Obviously not because I got sidetracked."

"What was it that stopped you?"

"Hangin' ducks."

"And at what point did you see Mister Sulu?"

"We bumped into each other in the hallway as there was a large group of people now 'cause of these ducks."

"And what was so special about these ducks?"

"... There were cooked corpses of these birds everywhere, hanging around with Captain Kirk's name printed on them."

There were some snickers from the audience, breaking Jeff’s rhythm and giving the defense an opportunity to interrupt. "Why are we talking about ducks, your honour? Are we not here for the case?" He stood up, making to walk around the desk. "I hardly see this relevant to the case but a time waster for the Plaintiff to gain composure and not allow me to speak."

Conceding he had a point, the judge turned to Jeff, crossing her arms expectantly. “Well?”

"I'm going somewhere with this." Jeff promised, disheartened a little at the interruption.

The judge didn’t seem impressed. “You better get there quickly.” She warned, running out of patience.

Jeff nodded, shifting a little nervously before turning back to McCoy. "And.. the group of people gathered, they were causing a commotion?"

"Yeah, they started taunting us."

Feeling this was getting somewhere and he was on better footing, Jeff continued a bit more confidence in his tone. "So, you were not the ones who started the disagreement that turned into a fight?"

"No..."

"You and Mister Sulu did nothing at that time to be construed as oppressive or threatening?"

"Your honour, I have a report here." The defense attorney interrupted again, reaching down to lift up said report.

The judged looked over. "Is it pertinent to the question just posed?"

"Absolutely." 

McCoy frowned, looking up at the judge. "Wait. Ain't this my time to speak?"

She looked down at McCoy for a moment with narrowed eyes, thinking briefly. "McCoy will answer the question, then you may present your evidence." She finally ruled, looking over at the defense.

There was a slight pause before McCoy spoke, his answer short and simple. "No, we didn't."

The defense was ready immediately and jumped in quickly. "Your honour, under file 8 you can see several eyewitnesses and reports that both McCoy and Sulu involved themselves in an unrelated fight, grabbing one individual each."

"Yeah, we were trying to stop them from knocking each other's brains out!" McCoy retorted.

"Which would be a controlling approach, correct?"

"Listen here, bud. I'm a doctor and I have every right to intervene if a crew member's health is at risk."

"Did you see all these crew members health at risk as you and Sulu tried to oppress them?"

Jeff could see he was losing, had basically lost, control over the situation. He felt in over his head, and he needed to get back on top of this. "Your honor? It's my witness right now." He asked, tone taking on a pleading, slightly offended, quality.

The judge slammed the gavel down a couple times, halting the back and forth between McCoy and the defense lawyer. She turned an annoyed look to the attorney. "You'll have your chance to cross examine the witness. I won't tell you again. Wait your turn."

Jeff cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure as the courtroom settled down once more. "So... the two other crewmembers were fighting, and you attempted to stop them? Which falls under something most any Starfleet officer would do, correct?" It was, as recoveries go, not that pathetic of a comeback, however when Jeff looked over at the jury, they seemed singularly unimpressed.

McCoy nodded. "Code states that we have that right."

"So you were following Starfleet directives in breaking up the fight?"

"We were going by regulation and all forms of protocol."

Jeff turned to the jury, glad for something to work with. "Which would mean that by defying orders to go back to their posts, the remaining officers were, in fact in defiance of perfectly reasonable orders that followed regulations and protocol." Feeling this had gotten his point across as well as it ever would, Jeff turned to the judge before going to sit by Sulu. “No more questions your honor.” 

The judge looked over at the defense. "You've been so eager to ask questions, it's your turn now."

"Excuse me for being so overly pertinent, your honour." The defense quips as he moves toward the stand, earning a scowl from the judge. "We'd like to keep Leonard at the stand."

The defense let the silence linger for moment, expertly drawing out the tension before posing his first question. "Doctor McCoy, describe your relationship with Hikaru Sulu."

McCoys eyebrow twitched slightly, but he answered the question evenly. "Good standing on a professional level."

The lawyer raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Just Professional?"

"He's one of my immediate patients just as the others are. The books state that this is required of the ship's CMO."

"I want to talk a bit about the night. Quite a coincidence that you were on deck 6 situated near Hikaru Sulu's apartment when heading to this private appointment. Are you one to give gifts, doctor?"

McCoy squinted at him, confused by the sudden change in topic. "What?"

"Did you or did you not give Mister Sulu a teddy bear as a gift?"

".... Yes."

“Here I have an eyewitness of you speaking with Mister Sulu one night, making comments about bruises that had been evident on Hikaru Sulu's neck, tracing over them with your finger."

Anger color’s McCoy’s tone as he responded to that statement. "It was a medical procedure in terms of evaluation."

"Why were no other patients with you the night you found the ducks, Doctor? It seems evident that you and Mister Sulu were rather.. close. Did this relationship inspire for more need of festivity? Such as control over other crewmember onboard?"

McCoy gritted his teeth in a small attempt to control his temper. "We are not romantically involved."

"Isn't it funny how a teddy bear could be considered quite the ... unusual gift? Did Mister Sulu give you a gift?"

“No.” McCoy was getting deeply frustrated. Jeff cleared his throat, trying to catch the judges attention to interrupt.

"A few days a go a ring was just spotted on your finger. Did Mister Sulu give you that ring?" The defense barreled on through with his questions.

"I've always had this ring, damn it."

"The other one, on your right hand." The lawyer smirked smugly as McCoy’s eyes widened.

"Where did you get that ring, Doctor McCoy?"

McCoy grit his teeth, refusing to answer at first. "I... I can't remember." He finally admitted.

The lawyer laughed. "You can't remember? Well maybe Mister Sulu can remind you, then?"

Jeff glanced at Sulu, hoping to glean some sort of information, but the pilot was sitting wide eyed and just as confused.

"You referred to one of the members as a boy. Quite a derogatory term to call someone, isn't it?"

McCoy could only sit there, baffled at yet another sudden jump in topic.

"Uh.. " Jeff rose slightly, half standing for all that he was not sure what he should object about. The judge and jury didn’t even glance at him, their attention riveted on the intense line of inquiry the defense lawyer had going. Beside him Sulu was looking decidedly pale, feeling sick and terrified knowing he would be going through the same thing soon.

"You said you were visiting a patient that night but there was no documentation or reports filed concerning this person."

"Because I was knocked out by that fella over there!" McCoy barked, tossing a hand in the direction of the four who were supposed to be on trial.

"Were the hyposprays a way to intimidate the others?"

At this Jeff stood up, speaking clearly and sharply. "Your honor! He's a medical doctor! On the way to a patient, of course he had hyposprays!"

McCoy sagged in the chair, finally someone trying to tell them the exact same thing he’d been saying for god knows how long.

The judged didn’t allow him any respite though, looking down at him sternly. "Answer the question McCoy."

"No. They are never to be used as a form of intimidation. Medical officers are required to have specific medical instruments on them at all times."

"Need I say any more?" The defense lawyer asked, turning a wry smile to the jury. They’d started murmuring to each other again, doubting looks turned upon McCoy. "It is clear that you and Hikaru Sulu were conspiring with one another to gain control. You hung the ducks around to cause a commotion, meeting each other at this specific spot and all of a sudden.. terror goes loose."

Jeff interjected once more. "There has been NO proof connecting my clients to these ducks."

"Quite the coincidence, don't you think?" The defense quipped back, turning his eyes to Jeff. The four men on trial were smirking between themselves, knowing just how poorly the prosecution was doing. “No witnesses besides these two."

"Quite the coincidence your clients were there! Perhaps they put the ducks there to lure them in for an ambush?" Jeff responded hotly, anger crossing his face.

The gavel hitting the desk interrupted the two attorney’s, their gaze going up to the irate judge.

"Quiet! Enough! I will not have you two bickering in my courtroom!" She snapped, glowering at them both. She glared at Jeff until he sat down, then turned her gaze to the defense. “Are you finished?”

"With Leonard, your honour." He stated, nodding respectfully.

McCoy glared, muttering some very unfriendly words even as the judge shooed him off the stand with a harsh disapproving gaze. He sat next to Sulu, blood boiling. “We’re toast, Sulu…” The pilot couldn’t even speak at that moment, hopes just draining away.

“Anymore witnesses?”

Jeff came forward shakily at the judges question. “Uh. We'll call our final witness, Hikaru Sulu." Sulu felt he might throw up as he stood, making his way to the stand, refusing to look over at the defense. That had gone so completely sideways for McCoy… He didn’t want to consider how he would deal with this.

There was a light muttering in the crowd, the defense lawyer looking on with a predatory gaze. 

Taking a deep breath, Jeff started the questioning. "MIster Sulu. Walk us through what happened that day."

"Well, there wasn't much work to do, just a bunch of system checks. I spent most of my time that day in my quarters working on reports."

"And how did you end up involved in the incident?"

"I'd just gotten off duty and was in my quarters when I heard some noise, and when I went out to investigate there were the ducks."

“So before then you hadn't seen or known anything about them?"

” No, that was the first I'd seen of them."

"And to clarify,” Jeff glanced over at the defense, knowing that due to their prior insinuations he needed to make this point. "You had not appointments with anyone or had any visitors coming to your quarters?"

Sulu frowned at the question, answering it quickly. "No."

Jeff nodded at that, having expected the answer. It wasn’t doing as much good convincing the jury as he had previously hoped. One look at the defense has him on edge. The man is sporting a poorly hidden smugness. "And what happened when you went to investigate?"

Sulu paused for a second, making sure he had his thoughts in order before beginning to speak. "I went out into the corridor, and I saw the ducks. I was shock and concerned, it was...disturbing. McCoy walked over and I asked him if we should take them down. I figured they were likely the cause of distress for quite a few crew…”

"McCoy disagreed, wanting to wait to show the captain, probably because Kirk's name was painted on it." Sulu glanced at the jury nervously as he continued. "I.. was concerned about the size of the crowd gathering around, so I ordered them back to their posts."

"And all of them were junior officers, or of a lower rank than you?"

"To my knowledge, yes." Sulu confirmed with a nod.

"So it was a completely ordinary order that should not have cause any undue concern?"

"That is what I'd meant it to be, yes."

The defense broke in a second later. "What does Mister Sulu mean by what he "meant" it to be?"

The judge must have been just as curious, because she didn’t reprimand the defense, but turned to Sulu. “Mister Sulu?”

"Is there room for regret there?" The defense pressed.

Sulu tried to backpedal, not having meant for it to come out that way. "No.. I went forward to get their attention, and there was some inappropriate actions. One of them whistled, another made a cat call. After that I ordered them back to their posts." He glanced over at the four in question briefly. 

Jeff sent the defense a sharp irritated look. "If I could continue questioning my witness?"

After a moment of pointed silence, waiting for the defense to sit back down, Jeff turned back to Sulu. "And when did the fight start?"

"Some of them started taunting me and McCoy, it was shortly after that. Someone took exception to those comments and two crewman started arguing. The argument grew heated and turned to blows. When McCoy and I stepped in, they turned on us." Sulu hesitated briefly. "It... escalated from there."

"And after the fighting had started to die down, what happened?"

"Three crew were digging through McCoy's medical bag, and two others had a hold on me. McCoy tried to free me, but was similarly restrained. He was knocked unconscious and injected. And then the rest of them turned on me." He stopped, but Jeff was giving him an expectant look and waved a hand urging him to continue. He did so reluctantly. "They… pinned me down, one of them, I think her name was Leana, kissed my forehead. They were making threats and taunts. Kale came over and when Dave encouraged him, used the hypospray."

"And had you done anything to cause them to act that way?"

“No.”

McCoy was sitting in absolute shock, rage slowly creeping in. The defense lawyer was slowly shaking his head.

"Is that all that they did? Restrain you, taunt you, and administer an unknown drug?" 

Sulu pulled a face, knowing it was necessary, though it was so difficult to say out loud. "One of them spit on me and another slapped me."

Jeff nodded, turning to the jury. "Malicious actions that no amount of self defense would allow for." Point made, he turned to the judge. "No more questions." Mentally wishing Sulu the best of luck, Jeff returned to his spot beside McCoy. 

McCoy put his face in his palm, head lowering as he tried to keep his emotions in check. The judge looked at the defense. “Any questions?” 

Sulu tensed as the defense nodded, coming forward to stand in front of him. "You stated you went forward to get their attention which clearly indicates that you had a plan in mind. Of course you are going to get attention if you seek for it... but that was part of the plan, wasn't it?"

Sulu frowned, unsure what exactly he was being asked. "I needed to get their attention because they were all focused on the duck.."

"Angering you because you wanted to show your power as a leader! Your need for control enhanced at that point."

Sulu shook his head in denial. “No…I-“

"You stated some names but you are not entirely sure using words such as, "I think". There is no room for doubt in the courtroom!"

"The only ones I am positive about are the ones we are holding this trial for." Sulu was getting frustrated, knowing that this was exactly what had happened to McCoy. The lawyer just rolling out question after question.

"And, in this made-up scenario you have made, do you find yourself innocent?" There was a sharp silence, Sulu too shocked to respond immediately. He glanced over at Jeff and McCoy, hoping for some help. "I was following regulations. The crewman acted inappropriately and took advantage of the fight that had broken out to take some sort of revenge."

"Revenge? Revenge for what? Are you trying to imply that they ought to feel vengeful about something?" The defense snapped out the questions quickly, not pausing to give Sulu a chance to deny or explain. "Did guilt lead to that idea in your head?"

"No. That's not what I mean." Sulu snapped out, frustration and nerves getting the better of him. "I don't know what their motivations where, but they had been escalating taunts for days before this. I had done nothing that could have provoked them. I performed my normal duties as pilot. That was all." The lawyer was twisting everything he said, and Sulu was powerless to do anything about it.

"And it made you mad.... so you went to your boyfriend, McCoy, and asked for help. And by gaining this CONTROL you would be able to find yourself no longer worrying about being bullied."

Sulu shifted, upset at his words, scared at where this was going, and too nervous to interrupt and give him more ammunition.

"You cried over a gift you had lost that was given to you by McCoy. Is this true?"

"He's NOT my boyfriend!" Sulu all but shouted it, unable to keep the denial at bay. He couldn’t stress that point enough, and it drove him mad that people kept saying it. "He NEVER has been. It was a gift from a friend, nothing more."

"Yet there is no denial in either statement I have just made. Surely if you were innocent you would jump at the opportunity to defend yourself?"

Sulu let out a noise of frustration. "What do you think I'm trying to do?"

Ignoring the pilots words, the defense continued, volume rising. "You don't want anyone finding out about you and McCoy because YOU are a CHEATER, Mister Sulu!"

This statement had a few in the crowd gasping in shock, Sulu shouting vehemently. “NO!”

Jeff stood up, yelling as well. "Your honor! This has no relevance!"

McCoy wanted nothing more than to go and remove Sulu from this whole mess. The pilot was half standing, anger evident as he ignored Jeff’s objection, his focus on the defense. "I have never cheated!"

"Isn't it blantantly obvious that the plaintiff has gone into panic mode?!" The defense turned his back to Sulu, facing the jury. "I saw, let these men go free! We have no witnesses to back up their accusations, yet the defendant has provided all information needed for that case!"

"No! McCoy and I are not together, we are not on some power trip!" Sulu tried again to get his point across, but the defense didn’t so much as acknowledge him. 

"If there is ANY doubt in your mind then I ask you, be logical and help serve justice. Allow these innocent men to return back to their stations and duties without any further cause. The plaintiff have crippled before you!"

The courtroom is in a near uproar, the jury commenting to one another, the crowd doing the same. "The truth must stand." The defense lawyer stated firmly, voice pitched to be heard above the din.

The judge rose, gavel banging once more as she shouted. “Quiet! Quiet!” She remained standing as the crowd hushed, waving Sulu off the stand. He was shaking as he slunk over to his seat, sitting beside McCoy in utter misery. 

"We will have a one hour recess, at which time you will return with your verdict." The judge stated to the jury, banging the gavel one last time at the order before turning and walking out.

McCoy cursed as the crowd thinned. “We’re done.” Jeff was silent, having come to the same conclusion himself. Sulu couldn’t bring himself to speak, or even look up from where he was studying the desk. Jeff sighed, standing up. “Come on, might as well get some fresh air while we wait.” He shook his head as neither McCoy nor Sulu moved, turning and heading toward the doors.

Jeff had gotten only a couple steps down the isle before the doors burst open dramatically, an incredibly handsome Brit (though no one knows) standing there. “Wait! Wait!” He shouted, accent completely American. Jeff freezes where he is, giving this guy an incredulous look. “…who are you?”

"I'm part of the security personnel and I'm thinking you may be in need of these" the man said, walking up to Jeff with a charming grin, handing him a device.  
McCoy blinks, watching the interaction silently.

Jeff looks at the device in confusion. “…what? What are they?”

"Recovered camera footage, Sir." He gives Jeff a wink. "Takes a pro to sort this out."

Jeff paused, mind racing. "...I think I can make this work. Gimme just a few minutes.” He said, excitement rising as he trotted off through the door the judge had left by. 

Eros moved over to Sulu, standing next to him. "Hey... we never finished that video." He glanced up at McCoy. “You alright?” Sulu interrupts, looking up at Eros and smiling a little in recognition. "Hey, yeah...we didn't did we? Sorry... not really feeling it right now." He shakes his head with a humorless chuckle.

"I heard.... that's why I came to save your ass." Eros quipped, looking up at McCoy a second later. “Yours, too."

Sulu sighed, glancing over to where the jury had been sitting. "Hope it works… that lawyers got them wrapped round his finger..."  
Eros shifted, looking Sulu in the eyes. “It’s footage, Sulu.” 

Sulu froze, mind balking at the implications. “…ah.” He looked away unhappily. Footage meant a record of what happened, and everyone seeing it. Sulu wasn’t sure how to compute that, other than maybe be glad it would help their case.

".... I saw the whole thing." Eros said, convincingly sympathetic. 

Sulu isn’t sure how to respond to that and is saved by the bailiff returning, herding the majority of the crowd in with him. "Court is reconvening ahead of schedule."  
Jeff strides over to them shortly after, looking much brighter than before. "Alright, I got the judge to allow the new evidence."

Eros nods at that, straightening. "I'm guessing you won't need me here anymore."

Jeff grins at him, immensely grateful for this strangers help. "Thanks, I owe you."

Eros cast one last look at the three of them. "Wishing you luck." He turned and left, expression breaking into a dark smirk as the doors closed behind him.

Sulu glanced over at McCoy as the jury filed in, feeling the need to maybe warn him or apologize for what was about to be shown. Something. 

"This is gonna turn the tables for sure." Jeff was excited, eager to get the upperhand once and for all.

"Now they'll see the real truth." McCoy agreed, Sulu wincing in his seat and cringing inwardly as the footage begins to play. 

McCoy grits his teeth, hands clenching uselessly beside him at he watches. "My gosh, Sulu! They really did that to you?! These people are outta their minds!" 

Jeff is looking a curious mix of pale and green. Hearing what happened was bad enough… 

Sulu shifted uncomfortably, face feeling warm with shame, the emotion coloring his tone. “…yeah.”

McCoy looked him over critically as the footage came to an end, searching for any injuries left, especially around the eyes. "You're gettin' a check-up once we get back." He stated, turning back his gaze forward again. "From me this time."

Jeff cast McCoy a sidelong glance at that, shaking his head. He stood, addressing the judge. "Your honor, I believe that is all the evidence we need."

Sulu looked over at McCoy’s tense face before looking down at his hands. "..I'm fine..." He tried, knowing before he started that it wasn’t any kind of a good argument.

The jury was standing up, already handing the judge their verdict.

McCoy glanced at Sulu. "Hey... look." He whispered, trying to comfort him.

Sulu glanced up, waiting tensly for the verdict.

"The jury has reached a verdict...” The judge read out, standing. “Guilty on all counts."

There’s a general bustle of activity at those words, the guilty party being led away and the crowd chatting as they filed out. Sulu was relieved, to be sure, but most of all he just wanted out of here.

Jeff turned, grin on his face as he extended a hand to McCoy. “Congratulations.” He grinned, shaking his hand. He took one glance at Sulu and knew to leave the man alone, keeping his attention and words for the doctor.

"I tried to lay off the metaphors as you said, Jeff." 

Jeff laughed a little at that. "Probably wouldn't have hurt this time around." He began gathering his things, glancing up at them both when he was done. "You gentlemen have a great day. Congratulations again.” With that, he turned and left.

McCoy looked at Sulu with a deep concern, knowing they needed to talk.

Sulu took in a deep breath, letting it out in a long sigh. “Lets get outta here.” He said, tone full of false cheer.

McCoy nodded, not at all fooled. "Yeah... Jim's probably gonna want to know everything that's happened."

Sulu hesitated slightly, step faltering for all he knew that would happen anyway. "Guess that means a copy of the footage?"

"Probably."

Sulu held back a sigh. "Do we need to go get that copy?" He hoped it was the only copy. Much as he trusted Eros not to spread it around, he didn’t even like the idea of it being out there.

"I'm not sure if we can even get the copy at this point."

Sulu nodded. "They'll probably send one to him anyway..." He knew it wouldn’t change anything, Kirk knowing, but it bothered him anyway. Feeling miserable, he turned to McCoy. "You going back to the ship?"

"Yeah, we're gonna get you checked out."

Honestly, Sulu had forgotten about that. "Doc, I told you I'm fine. Adams wrote me a clean bill of health." He felt fine, more or less. Sure some of the bruises were sore, and he might have a few aches, but he was fine.

"And Doctor Adams wasn't just put on trial, neither."

"What?" Sulu looked at him in confusion. 

"You need no medical expert to see the state that you were in back there."

Sulu followed Bones as the doctor walked, not really interested in fighting right now. He didn’t have the energy to argue. "...If it'll make you feel better."

A group from the courtroom passed them by, many of them eyeing Sulu suspiciously, glances falling on McCoy as well. The doctor ignored them, though Sulu had to resist ducking his head, knowing how it must look them walking together. 

McCoy frowned. "If it'll make you feel better."

Sulu let out a bark of laughter at that. "Nice joke doc." He glanced up at him for a second, shaking his head and looking forward. They walked in silence for a moment, Sulu thinking. "Yeah, I'll probably feel better... I never liked Adams anyway..." He eventually spoke up.

"... He's just tryna help. We all are."

Sulu shrugged, reaching up to rub roughly on a bruise on his neck, ignoring the ache. "Yeah. Sorry, I know that…” 

McCoy tilted his head, raising both eyebrows in self skepticism. “That medication was sure strong, though.”

“…yeah.” Sulu shook his head, remembering that first trippy night. “Lets never do it again.”

McCoy eyed the pilot. "Even without medication it's still a battle to keep you on the bed."

Sulu scoffed, not noticing some passerbys giving them an odd look. "Yeah, well after this I'll make an exception and sleep for a week. Sound fair?"

McCoy scoffed as well, smirking slightly and nodding. He turned serous after a moment. "Probably wouldn't hurt for you to take a break. I'd not recommend you in goin' back to work, tonight. Leave me to deal with Jim on that."

"I'll take you up on it this time." Sulu said, grinning at Bones a little. "But only this time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have never actually been to court, or know much about how the whole thing proceeds, so please forgive any inaccuracies.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chekov and Sulu spend some time together relaxing, catching up now that the trial is over.

Chekov approached Sulu, the pilot was on the observation deck focused on a data PADD in his hand. He tapped his friend on the shoulder. “Hi, Karu!” Pavel was cheerful today, though a bit tired. 

Sulu looked up, placing the PADD on the table. "Oh, hey Pav." He gave him a little smile, head tiltling slightly. “Whats up?" 

"I vas vondering eef you vanted to hang out today! Now zhat zhings are normal, ve hawe a lot to catch up on." He hesitated slightly, glancing down at the report Sulu’d been working on. "Unless you are busy."

Sulu glanced down at the PADD briefly, then back at Chekov. His smile slowly widened, and he adopted an overly dramatic tone. "Oh, yeah, sorry this report is just so exciting." He stood up, shaking his head. "Of course I want to hang out. Only, McCoy warned me we better not cause any trouble." He informed Chekov of McCoy’s warning, hoping that with two of them thusly told they would actually manage to stay out of trouble.

Chekov blinked at Sulu, vaguely wondering if he should have let Karu finish what he was working on. But the pilot seemed ok with it. He smirked at Sulu’s comment, rolling his eyes and adding sarcastically. “Trouble? Us?” He giggled slightly at the joke. "But alright, I'll try to keep zhings under control."

Sulu rubbed the back of his head in mock confusion. "Yeah, I know? When do we ever cause trouble?" Both of them laughed at that, Chekov chipping in with a dramatic shrug. “Eet's not like ve try to make trouble. Eet just... happens!" 

Sulu knew that wasn’t precisely the truth, but he simply shrugged, not about to call Chekov out. "So, hanging out. What’s on the agenda, since we're avoiding trouble?" He knew pranks were out, not that he was even remotely in the mood for that.

Chekov tilted his head in contemplation. “I vas zhinking maybe ve could stargaze or somezhing. Maybe vatch a movie, some videos, somezhing relaxing." He knew he could do with some down time, he hadn’t relaxed all week, but then again neither had anyone else.

Sulu thought about it, a slight frown crossing his features. "Not stargazing, that'll make me miss flying." He gave Pav an exaggerated sad expression, hiding the real emotion underneath. "McCoy overruled Adams clean bill of health, and I'm officially banned from the bridge for the next couple days." It was an exaggeration, something Sulu was typical for and he knew Chekov would catch that. 

Chekov frowned slightly, even knowing it was Sulu’s making a joke. “Eet's going to be lonely vithout you." He hated working without Sulu. The pilot nudged him, trying to lighten the mood. “It’s only for a few days.”

"Zhen ve'll just vatch movies. Ve can make popcorn and eweryzhing!" He was getting excited at the prospect, they hadn’t had a chance to hang out with each other in a relaxing environment in so long. 

Sulu grinned. "Yes, movies! I haven't had a moment to just watch a movie in...forever." He bounced a little on the balls of his feet, excited at the prospect. "We have to have the cheesy popcorn."

“No ozher vay!" Chekov grinned widely, a bounce in his step as he headed toward the cafeteria. "And ve can get some soda, too!" 

Sulu nodded happily. "What else would we get with popcorn? Grape juice?” He chuckled, even if the joke was so beyond terrible. 

Chekov paused mid step, looking at Sulu in confusion. "Grape juice? Zhat does not go vith popcorn, Karu." He stated, giving him an odd look before continuing into the cafeteria.

Sulu face-palmed, shaking his head slightly. "..I'm so off my game. Joke, Pav, it was a joke." He laughed lightly, going over to make the popcorn. At least the cafeteria was mostly empty so no one had heard that weak joke. "You get the drinks."

Chekov snickered. "Zhat vas pretty bad..." He teased playfully, moving over to get the drinks. He knew Sulu wasn’t that big a fan of soda, so he simply got cola for them both. 

"Yeah, I know..." He scoffed, looking over at him as he finished making the popcorn. "Your place?"

Chekov nodded, slipping closer and snatching a small handful of popcorn. He shoved it into his mouth with a grin. "Let's go!" 

Sulu grinned, holding the bowl up higher. "Save it for the movie!" They headed out of the cafeteria, making their way quickly to the Russian’s room. 

Cheov laughed, placing the sodas on the desk as they got to his room, moving over to flop on the bed. "Now zhe important decision: vhat do you vant to vatch?" 

Sulu kept hold of the popcorn, moving to sit on the other side of the bed. "Something fun. With a happy ending." He suggested, munching happily on the popcorn, ignoring his own advice about waiting for the movie. 

Chekov thought for a moment, rolling to lay on his stomach. "Do you remember zhat movie ve used to vatch all zhe time? Brozher Bear, I zhink eet vas called." He smiled, really wanting to watch it, but wasn’t sure if Sulu had liked it or wanted to watch it. 

Sulu laughed, smiling as he thought about it. "Yes! That was a /great/ one. I haven't seen it in so long." *smiles thinking about it* "Do you have it?"

Chekov crawled over to pick up a PADD, scrolling through it muttering in russian. “Yes.” He nodded, pulling it up. He moved to arrange the soda’s. “Are you ready?” He asked, snuggling down beside Sulu.

Sulu nodded, having fixed the blankets and pillows, popcorn sitting between them.

Sulu curled up closely, frowning a bit as the brother started hunting the bear. The popcorn was mostly gone, though there was a mess all over the place as the mooses appeared on screen. Sulu chuckled at them, elbowing Pav gently. They were curled up closely, Sulu having missed hanging out with Pav.

It felt like it had been forever since they’d had a close moment, no stress or worries, Sulu nodding his head slightly with the light music as they watched the bears catching fish. It was nice, relaxing. The perfect way to unwind after far too many days of stress. The screen blinked, cutting out slightly and going fuzzy for a moment. 

The two of them frowned as the screen went white. It panned out a moment later, showing the corridor as the video played, Sulu sitting frozen in a shocked horror.

Chekov was confused at first, feeling Karu stiffen beside him. "Hey, eesn't zhat... you?" He went still and quiet as the video goes on, shaking as he watches them pinning his friend down. He didn’t even try to fight the tears listening to them, watching what had happened.

Sulu sat stock still, conflicted as to whether he should go throw up or comfort Chekov. "I'm sorry you had to..." He’d never wanted Chekov to see that. "...are you ok?" He sat up slowly, untangling himself from the blankets and Chekov, scooting back. He was so nervous and he hated it. He ignored that feeling, focusing on Pav to keep form panicking. 

Chekov wiped the tears away, not wanting Sulu to see. He needed to make Karu feel better, but he was definitely NOT okay. He took a deep breath, not responding.

Sulu’s nerves were getting worse as the silence continued, getting jittery when Chekov didn’t respond. He glanced at the screen, swallowing thickly. He was afraid, irrationally, of what Chekov was thinking, scared that his friend might think badly of him. 

Chekov was still shaking, not daring to look at Sulu. "How could zhey--" His voice was thick with emotion, having a difficult time getting the words out. "how could zhey do zhat..."

Sulu reached over to touch Pav’s arm, trying to keep his own hand from shaking. "..Hey, I'm okay.." He wanted to cheer Pav up, needed to. 

Chekov finally looked over at Sulu. “Zhey hurt you so bad..." He couldn’t get over what he’d just seen, he knew it would be haunting him for a while. 

Sulu tried to smile, the expression wavering. "I'm...." He stopped, taking a shaky breath and trying to calm down for Chekov’s sake. "I'll be ok..." He knows Chekov won’t believe it if he tried to say he was fine. He tried to lighten the mood, scooting closer a little hesitantly. "In 'nother few days and I won't even be bruised."

Chekov dipped his head, wiping his face again. He felt hot, the room spinning slightly as his stomach twisted uneasily. He stiffed as Sulu scooted closer, though he didn’t move beyond pulling the blankets closer around him. "Zhe bruises vill disappear, yes." He spoke slowly, having difficulty finding the words in english. "But zhe pain von't."

Sulu pulled back slightly, a sharp pain of rejection slicing through him. “Pav…” He spoke quiet, voice barely a whisper, unsure what to say to that comment.

Chekov sniffled a bit, suddenly diving over and hugging Sulu really tightly, sobbing into his chest.

Sulu held back a wince, bruises complaining at the tight hold, though he didn’t move back. He was simply relived Chekov still loved him and wasn’t pulling away, even if it hurt. 

"It'll be okay." He tried to comfort Pav, hugging him in return and rubbing the Russian’s back slightly.

Chekov pulled away hesitantly after a few minutes, tears drying up. He looked up at Sulu, smiling weakly. "No one vill ewer hurt you zhat vay again." His eyes gleamed with determination, even if his voice was shakey. "Ewer." 

Sulu returned the smile, his own expression just as weak, ignoring the way his body ached. “I'll be a little more careful next time." He reached over, tugging at a stray curl.

Chekov giggled at that, though he shook his head slightly at what his friend had said. "You couldn't help eet, Karu. Zhey... Zhey owerpovered you."

Sulu snorted, disbelieving. "Yeah, but I shouldn't have let it go that far." He should have stopped the crew teasing him days before, he’d let it get out of hand. He was their commanding officer, they never should have been allowed to take it that far. "..bout got McCoy killed." 

Chekov’s breath hitched a bit. He forced himself to calm down, focusing on the wall for a few seconds. After he’d calmed somewhat, he chanced a look at Sulu, eyes drifted to his face. He could barely see the outline of a bruise by the PADD’s light. "You bozh nearly died." He looked away again, tearing up.

Sulu closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a quiet breath. “…yeah.” Honestly, he’d though he might that day, knowing McCoy was out cold and no one was going to come and help them. He opened his eyes, focusing on his friend. "But we didn't." He fell silent, wishing there were something he could do to comfort Chekov, trying to stop the memories circling his mind. 

Chekov nodded, cuddling back up to Sulu. He didn’t really feel like watching a movie now, or doing much of anything if he was honest. But Karu is okay, he sounds ok, and that’s what matters. “Could…” He hesitated, unsure if he should ask. “Don’t leave.” He whispered finally, curling tighter to Sulu.

Hikaru curled back up to Chekov, though he was still very much on edge, it was all he could do to keep from trembling. "..yeah, I'll stay." He didn’t want to go back to his quarters anyway, not after watching that again. He didn’t think he could walk down that corridor on his own right now. He can’t stop thinking, hoping Pav doesn’t realize where the video took place. He wouldn’t want to visit Sulu in his room any longer. He hugged Chekov closer, berating himself. No, that was dumb, of course Pav would still visit him.

Chekov was just relieved that Sulu agreed to stay, hugging him back and sighing a quiet sad sigh. He relaxed a little. “Zhank you.”

“Yeah.” The word comes out shaky and he tries again, managing the words in an even tone. “Yeah, of course.” He didn’t let go of Chekov, even as the navigator’s arms unwrapped from him, the kid cuddling against Sulu’s chest in a little Russian ball.

Sulu just held Chekov, trying to keep his breath even and not cry. He would be strong for Chekov, his friend needed him right now.

Chekov yawned. "D-deed you vant to continue zhe mowie?" His voice was still shaking and he wrestled inwardly with himself.

Sulu shook his head minutely, voice quiet as he responded. "..no." He didn’t think he could handle it if that video somehow popped up again. 

Sulu hugged Chekov tighter, the Russian muttering quietly. “Good.” He felt slightly constrained, but said nothing. It was silent for a moment, and he reached up to pet Sulu’s arm gently. "You are safe, Karu." 

Sulu twitched a little at Pav’s touch, but didn’t move away. He whispered lowly, trying to sound sure of himself. “...yeah. I know..." He couldn’t get his brain to stop.

Chekov stayed silent, thinking. He started to feel sick, worried. "Zhey're gone, right Karu?" He asked, the nickname more of a comfort for him than anything else.

Sulu’s breath hitched a little, shoulders tensing slightly. "...yeah." It came out strained, not at all relaxed. What if they weren’t though? No, no… what if there were more?

Sulu’s tone didn’t go unnoticed, Pav shifting to cover Karu with the blankets, piling pillows around him. He wrapped an arm around Sulu once he’d finished. "No one can get you now."

Sulu curled up, shaking a little. “I’m fine…” he mumbled, trying to convince himself. “Stupid…” He stopped abruptly. He was FINE. He wasn’t afraid, he was fine.

Chekov tried to be cheerful, gently poking Sulu’s nose. “Boop.” He tried, an attempt to cheer the pilot up. Sulu choked on a laugh, reluctantly letting Pav go when he realized how tightly he was holding him. “Sorry…” He apologized.

Chekov smiled a little, not bothered so long as it helped. "No, eet's okay. I don't mind." 

Sulu sat up, shifting a little away, his hands shaking. "...I should be this.." He sighed, frustrated as he tried to explain. "They're gone. I was at the trial, it's safe here." 

Chekov leaned back, tilting his head as he tried to understand, listening intently. "You don't feel safe?" 

Sulu shook his head a little, not wanting to admit that was what the problem was. “I worked with these people for years." He glanced up at Pav, gauging his reaction. "It's not like they were an enemy.."

Chekov bit his tongue, frowning as he thought a moment. “Zhey betrayed you..?” He trailed off a little, taking a breath and beginning again. “Zhey betrayed all of us…” He stopped, pieces clicking together in his mind and he can feel tears coming out again. "Y-you can trust me."

Sulu’s head jerked up, looking at Chekov in surprise. "What? I know that. Yeah, I trust you." No, he didn’t want to make Chekov cry, he hadn’t meant to hurt him or make him think he didn’t trust him. "I didn't mean... that's not what I meant." 

Chekov tried to calm himself, sniffling and wiping his eyes. "You know. I vas so vorried about you. Zhe day before all zhis happened. So scared zhat you…” He hadn’t meant to say all this, but once the words started, he couldn’t stop them. "Scared zhat you vere angry at me. I mean, I know you vere, but I mean, angry to zhe point of no return."

Sulu looked down, guilt washing over him. "...I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have... You gotta know I'd always come back and be your friend, no matter what. I was being an idiot." He scooted closer, giving his friend a small smile. 

Chekov returned the smile, giving a quiet laugh. "I know zhat, I vas just caught up in zhe moment. People are foolish, aren't zhey." 

Sulu snorted, yes, he’d definitely been dumb. "Yeah, but I'll make it up to you. Promise, anything you want." There was a light chirp, Hikaru’s phone alerting him to a message. He reached over, flipping it open and reading the message.

Chekov rolled his eyes at that. "Eet should be me who spoils you." He didn’t want to elaborate, there had been enough pain and hurt for the night. He laughed, watching Karu for a moment before asking. “Who ees eet?" 

"Hmm?" Sulu hummed questioningly, giving Chekov an odd look. Why would Pav feel the need to spoil him, the Russian hadn’t done anything wrong? Sulu would easily admit it had been him being the jerk. He shrugged the though away though, responding to the text before answering Chekov’s question. "Just Jeff." He frowned a little as another text rolled in near instantly, responding to it quickly.

Chekov tilted his head questioningly. “Jeff.”

Sulu glanced up from the phone. "Oh, sorry. He was our attorney for the case..." He looked back down, the response taking longer to type out this time. He shook his head slightly, half rising before another text came that had him sitting back down again.

Chekov was feeling a bit ignored, but he wasn’t going to complain. "Attorney? Huh." He shifted, leaning back to watch Karu more easily. "Ees he here on zhe Enterprise?" He hadn’t met him before, and he was interested in doing so.

Sulu sent one last message before turning to look at Chekov. "Yeah. Actually, he is on board. He was asking if I knew you. Security is escorting him here..." Sulu looked around at the mess of popcorn on the bed. He probably should have asked Chekov if it was okay before he agreed to let Jeff come here.

Chekov blinked at him, confused. "He's coming here?" He glanced around at the mess as well, brown furrowing slightly. "And vith security? Vhy? For bozh questions."

Sulu started cleaning up the popcorn, not wanting Jeff to think they were messy or something like that, explaining as he did so. "Security, because he doesn't know the way. And as for why? He said they'd recovered something that belonged to you during the search of...of Ricky's quarters. One of the guys on trial..." He hesitated a tiny bit before shrugging. He had no desire to linger on that particular memory. "He is the kinda guy who'd wanna deliver it in person." He hesitated, movements stalling as he glanced at Chekov. "Is that ok? We could go meet him in the corridor?"

Chekov was still confused, though he started to help Sulu clean up. "Somezhing of mine? I vonder vhat eet ees..." He shoved a bunch of stuff under the bed, quickly throwing the covers back on and straightening them as Sulu cleared away the last of the popcorn. "No, here ees fine." He reassured him with a small smile.

Sulu relaxed a bit at the reassurance, he hadn’t wanted to deal with anything related to the case in the middle of the corridor. It wasn’t too long later that the door chimed, Sulu moving over to open it. Jeff was standing there, a medium sized leather carrier under one arm in lieu of his normal briefcase. “Mister Sulu, good evening. Sorry to interrupt your time off.” Jeff smiled apologetically at both of them, stepping forward into the room when Sulu waved him in, offering a hand for Chekov to shake. “Mister Chekov? Pleasure to meet you.” He grinned brightly, genuinely delighted.

Chekov shook his hand, giving Jeff a polite nod and a smile. "Hello, Meester Jeff. Erm, Kar-- Sulu said you had somezhing for me?" He was very curious as to what it could be.

“Yes, of course!” Jeff laughed lightly, moving over to set the carrier on the bed and starting to unclasp the latches. "We didn't have much time before the trial to really conduct an investigation." Jeff let out a soft sigh at that, it had really made the case difficult. "But, we did go back afterword and found this beautiful girl." He opened the cage, reaching in and gently bringing Utka out. 

Chekov let out a choked noise, practically grabbing his duck out of Jeff’s arms. He pet her, cuddling her close and holding her tightly as he could without hurting her. He babbled to her quietly in Russian, crying "Zhank you so much..." The words were quiet, blurred together with emotion.

Jeff smiled softly, glad to have made him so happy. "She stayed with me last night. Louey didn't like her, that's my parrot. But she's a sweetie." 

Chekov snorted a bit at hearing his Utka described as a ‘sweetie’, a flash of irritation that she hadn’t been returned to him last night. "Did zhey hurt her?" He asked, concern overwhelming him at the thought. He set her on the bed instantly, checking her over. 

Jeff shook his head, quick to reassure him. "No, she wasn't hurt. Needed some cleaning though, poor thing, and she was very hungry.” His smile turned slightly sad, he’d grown quite attached to the duck, even in such a short time. "I'm gonna miss her, but she looks happy to be home." He reached over to stroke Utka’s head gently.

Chekov nearly reached over to swat Jeff’s hand away, but managed to control himself. He had Utka back and she was safe, though he couldn’t help being a bit overprotective. He tucked Utka under his arm, straightening up to look at Jeff with a grin. "You can wisit her vhenewer. But only eef I can wisit Louis sometime soon."

Jeff returned the grin with one of his own, nodding enthusiastically. "Deal. I love showing Louis off. He's a Macaw, and full of attitude." Knowing full well he could, and would, talk for hours about his bird, Jeff stopped himself.

Chekov smirked, nodding slightly at Utka. “So ees zhis one.” 

"Any time you're in the neighborhood, feel free to come by." He pulled out his business card, handing it to Chekov. "My cell is on the back." 

Chekov accepted the card, looking at it curiously. He was impressed, he’d never expected to get Jeff’s business card, not when he could just ask Sulu for his number. He smiled, really liking this guy. “Zhanks again, seir. Eet means a lot to me.”

Jeff turned to Sulu next, reaching out to shake the Asian’s hand. "I didn't get a chance to congratulate your victory, so congratulations." He went to pick up the carrier, mission accomplished. "I won't disrupt your evening any longer."

Sulu watched in amusement at the interaction between Chekov and Jeff, nodding at the attorney as he gathered his things and left. After a few moments silence, Chekov stated. "Jeff ees nice."

Sulu nodded slowly, watching Chekov and Utka. "Yeah, he really is."

"I'm glad you had him for your trial." 

Chekov looked up at Sulu as the pilot smiled wryly. "...yeah... He had some help winning it though." He didn’t blame Jeff, not really. He was a good guy.

"He seems trustvorthy. And he likes birds." He grinned widely, hugging Utka to him before looking up at Sulu, head tilting slightly. "I guess you still don't like her zhough, huh?"

Sulu frowned slightly, feeling a bit like he was disappointing his friend. "Sorry Pav, me and birds just don't get along." He sat down on the bed, watching them both fondly. "I'm really glad she's okay though."

Chekov smiled slightly, understanding. "Eet's okay, Karu. Ve all hawe our differences." He shifted Utka so she was further from Sulu, wanting his friend to be comfortable but reluctant to let her get too far from him. "Me too." He let out a deep sigh, completely content. "I can finally relax now. Vith eweryzhing happening vith you and McCoy, zhe Utka disappearing, I hawe been all out of sorts." 

Sulu leaned over to nudge Pav with his should when the kid made an odd face. "Yeah, I think everyone has. But maybe now it can start getting back to normal." 

Chekov nodded, leaning slightly against Sulu’s shoulder, the two of them just content to hang out for a while. “Hopefully.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter for this little guild theme story. I hope you've liked it, and I may or may not get around to filling in those gaps and tiny loose ends still floating about.


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